Sunday, April 26, 2015

Pylon is the Greek
term for a monumental gateway of an
Egyptian temple. It consists of two tapering towers, each surmounted by a
cornice, joined by a less elevated section which enclosed the entrance between
them. The entrance was generally about
half the height of the towers. Can you imagine a bike on top of a pylon 20 feet up ?
~and it was no stunt show !!

As you pass rural
areas, the somewhat lonely pylons stand
– carrying electrical lines – anything new attract people and stories about
them would galore – these pylons are transmission towers, a tall structure, usually a steel lattice
tower, used to support an overhead power line. They are used in high-voltage AC
and DC systems, and come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. When the electric lines were laid first,
innocent villagers thought that it carried ‘man ennai [kerosene]’and in one film – comedian Senthil would climb the tower to
illegally tap the oil, and would get electrocuted !

A few decades ago,
one of my relatives was returning from her school – there was a railway line
and it was usual for people to go under and sometimes jump over the barricade
and cross the railway track without waiting for the train to pass-by. On that day, even as she was attempting to
jump-over, the barricade was lifted hydraulically and alongwith it went up the
little girl, screaming – rescued immediately by those nearby and hence became a
scene of comedy !

~here is something similarly different .... as read in
MailOnline - Onlookers were left aghast after a motorbike got entangled in a
power transmission high-tension cable at a height of 80 feet. The incident happened at Batuali in Ambikapur
district, north Chhattisgarh, 320km from Raipur.

However, the
reality was that it was no stunt act. Bewildered passersby just couldn’t stop
asking: How that happened? Airlifting of high-tension cable wire for a power
transmission tower was being carried out near a bypass road. One end of the
heavy wire was tied to a tractor at a distance of 600 metres. The cables are so
heavy that a tractor uses force for lifting, hauling or towing to a
considerable height over the ground on a power transmission tower. Rajesh Toppo, 25, was driving by when the
cable that was placed on the road came between the two wheels of his bike and
both vehicle and rider were almost instantly thrust upward.

The shocked youth
clung on to the bike. But, when labourers noticed him, they told him to jump
despite he being at a height of 20 feet. “I shouted at the workers to halt, but my
pleas fell on deaf ears. I tightly held onto the bike and it was consistently
going up. I got scared and jumped from a height of 20 feet,” said Toppo, who
sustained minor injuries. The bike remained entwined with the wire and
continued going up to over 80 feet.

News of the
spectacular scene spread like wild fire. Villagers who rushed to the area to
have a ‘dekkho’, however, complained that the work has been going on close to a
bypass road but one will not find any warning or caution indicator displayed in
the area. “I was returning home and the
moment my front wheel crossed, the cable lifted it. I was at a loss not knowing
whom to call for rescue as the workers too found themselves helpless and kept
shouting, asking me to jump,” Toppo, who had a miraculous escape, told
reporters.

The workers had reportedly asked Toppo to quickly
cross, as the cable was to be lifted immediately but the biker could not ride
to safety. Finally, after seeing Toppo
and his bike “accidentally anchored” on the rising electric cable, the
supervisor and ground labourers yelled and called the driver of the tractor to
stop. But, the tractor was 600-700 metres away and moreover, it was impossible
for the driver to hear anything in the backdrop of the heavy engine noise from
the running tractor. “Despite waving their hands and signalling to apprise the
tractor driver of an emergency, it did not work,” the supervisor, whose
name couldn’t be confirmed, told the villagers at the site.

Soon, the
supervisor and workers fled the spot. Toppo was taken to a local hospital with
minor injuries. “It is the
responsibility of the company’s staff and workers to ensure the safety and
avert any possible danger to passersby,” said Maheshpur village sarpanch Pusao
Ram. Must
have been pretty frightening for the person involved.